Hawaii income tax rates for 2025 and 2026, and what changes in 2027

Hawaii’s rates run from 1.4% to 11% across 12 brackets (HRS §235-51). Act 46 of 2024 widened the brackets for 2025, and the Department of Taxation says the brackets for 2026 are the same as for 2025; its 2026 withholding tables use them. Head of household brackets sit between the single and joint amounts, topping out at 11% over $487,500.

Net capital gains are taxed at the regular rates but at no more than 7.25%, figured on the capital gains worksheet in the Form N-11 instructions.

Act 24 of 2026, signed May 21, 2026, rewrites the brackets for tax years starting in 2027. The Department of Taxation says it lowers the second bracket from 3.2% to 2.5% and the third from 5.5% to 5%, and adds a 13% rate on taxable income over $500,000 for single filers, $750,000 for heads of household and $1 million for joint filers. The 7.25% cap on capital gains is not changed.

Form N-11 starts from federal adjusted gross income, adds and subtracts Hawaii adjustments, then takes off the standard deduction (or itemized deductions) and $1,144 for each exemption. Hawaii does not give the federal extra standard deduction for age 65 or blindness and does not index its amounts for inflation. Instead, a taxpayer or spouse 65 or older gets one more $1,144 exemption, and a certified blind, deaf or totally disabled person can take a $7,000 exemption in place of the regular one.

For example, a single filer with $60,000 of wages has $54,456 of taxable income for 2025 after the $4,400 standard deduction and one $1,144 exemption, and owes about $3,030. For 2026 the $8,000 standard deduction brings taxable income to $50,856 and the tax to about $2,756.

For 2025, Hawaii follows the Internal Revenue Code as of December 31, 2024, before the July 2025 federal law (Public Law 119-21) was passed. Its new deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest and seniors are taken after federal AGI, where the Hawaii return starts, so as we read the rules none of them reduces Hawaii tax for 2025.

For 2026, Act 35 of 2026 updates Hawaii to the Code as of December 31, 2025. The Department of Taxation says Hawaii will follow the federal deduction of up to $25,000 for qualified tips, but not the overtime deduction or the car loan interest deduction. Its summary does not mention the $6,000 senior deduction; Hawaii gives its own extra exemption at 65 instead. The 2026 forms showing how to claim the tips deduction are not yet published.

Hawaii does not tax Social Security or tier 1 Railroad Retirement benefits. It also does not tax qualifying distributions from employer-funded pension plans, including federal civil service, military, state and county pensions, when they are paid because of retirement, disability or death.

Other retirement income can be taxed. A private pension the employee paid into is partly taxed, and distributions from 401(k), 457 and Thrift Savings Plan accounts and from IRAs you funded yourself can be partly or fully taxable. Early distributions subject to the federal 10% penalty are taxable. Members of the reserves and Hawaii National Guard exclude the first $8,636 of that pay.

Several Hawaii credits are refundable, so the amount beyond your tax is paid to you.

For 2025, a single filer under 65 files with gross income over $5,544, a head of household over $7,568 and a married couple filing jointly over $11,088; the amounts are higher at 65. Anyone receiving rent from Hawaii property is treated as doing business in Hawaii and must file. Residents file Form N-11; part-year residents and nonresidents file Form N-15. Filing and debit payments are free on Hawaii Tax Online.

Hawaii returns are due on the 20th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends, so 2025 returns were due April 20, 2026 and 2026 returns are due April 20, 2027. Hawaii grants an automatic six-month extension to file without a form, but not to pay; pay any balance with Form N-200V by the April due date.

Check a Hawaii refund with “Where’s My Refund?” on Hawaii Tax Online. It asks for your Social Security number or ITIN and the exact refund amount on your return.

The tool says to check 7 to 8 weeks after you e-file or 9 to 10 weeks after you mail your return, and to add two weeks if you chose a paper check. The Form N-11 instructions say refunds are generally issued within eight weeks of filing.

You are a Hawaii resident if Hawaii is your domicile, or if you live in Hawaii for other than a temporary purpose. Anyone in Hawaii more than 200 days of the year is presumed to be a resident unless they show a permanent home elsewhere and a temporary purpose in Hawaii. Military orders alone do not change residence.

Part-year residents are taxed on all income while resident and on Hawaii income otherwise; nonresidents are taxed on Hawaii income only. Both prorate deductions and exemptions by the share of their AGI from Hawaii. Residents get a credit for income tax paid to another state on income Hawaii also taxes, but nonresidents cannot claim it unless filing a joint return with a resident spouse. We found no reciprocal agreement in Hawaii’s guidance.